One of CBS News’s Best Fall Books of 2005 • Among St Louis Post-Dispatch’s Best Nonfiction Books of 2005 • One of Amazon.com’s Best Science Books of 2005

A radical and optimistic view of the future course of human development from the bestselling author of How to Create a Mind and The Age of Spiritual Machines who Bill Gates calls “the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence”

For over three decades, Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines, he argued that computers would soon rival the full range of human intelligence at its best. Now he examines the next step in this inexorable evolutionary process: the union of human and machine, in which the knowledge and skills embedded in our brains will be combined with the vastly greater capacity, speed, and knowledge-sharing ability of our creations.

Reviews

Puzzled

4

By Dee Kay 35

I have downloaded the sample. And like so many others I am a bit puzzled. Why for a book about the future (especially presented by a company obsessed with the future and quality) is this book so poorly presented at the price demanded. I have a high resolution screen with the most atrocious graphics. For a company that purports to love good design presenting a book by a renowned author and futurist in such a shoddy format is a puzzle.

No excuse for poor graphics

3

By Fast Eddie B.

I downloaded the sample, and will probably buy the book in iTunes for convenience (and to save a tree). But there's no excuse for the poor quality graphics and charts. On my iPad they're fuzzy almost to the point of unreadability.
Good book so far, though.

Lo res images

2

By Kalicious

Don't know if this is just a problem with the sample version, but the diagrams are very low resolution and therefore illegible. Disappointing. Won't be purchasing for fear of missing important information due to this problem.
Good book though. Well written and clear. This is really just a criticism of the publishing platform, not the actual content of the book.

I had to laugh

4

By Kmooreiii

As I was reading the section about books in the technology section.... On my iPad.

$17 for Digital?

4

By MeMeMe2

I already spent a chunk on the hardcopy; I shouldn't have to pay this much for an electronic copy...ridiculous. I'll pass. Maybe for the audiobook...

I've heard

4

By (☞ﾟ∀ﾟ)☞

So much about this book and the sample seems like it would be an excellent read... But it's too expensive for me at the moment, I wish I could just rent it for a dollar a day!

Overpriced for the digital version.

5

By kangle

I'll give the book the highest rating, it is amazing. But I read it in hardcopy for $18. Why charge more for the digital book? Digital copies should cost the publishers less.

Insane price.

5

By Pamelaz

I remember buying the actual book a few years ago for less than $20 new. This is a fantastic read but $20 for a dated digital edition is crazy.

Awesome book, insane price

5

By Mikee179

I read the hard cover version of this book and loved it! I thought having a digital version on my iPad would be handy, but I'm certainly not going to pay $20 for that convenience!